racism, or not, of flannery o’connor, noted, or not
i admit this: that i don’t think that FoC is “all that” . . .
I think her notoriety is due to some sort of prejudice against southern intellectuals
that is, not that the critiques of her not well-thought-out or well-founded,
but rather that, in some reverse-twist
people adore her because her stories gratify
the worst expectations of southern mores & habitues;
in short, i think she is over-rated.
but then i have always thought willa cather was over-rated,
and so too, edith wharton,
so apparently there is some personal mendacity
i will have to deal with, sometime
so i will say no more on THAT.
but to what extent are the reputations of faulkner, percy, o’toole, et al
based upon the same sort of perverse prejudice?
i mean, i love these writers, for the southern-ness
with which i identify,
but i recognize (i perceive, i believe)
that others bulwark their regional prejudices
using the exact same ‘appreciation’.
if you see how i mean.
a partial scorecard,
excluding the most obvious human failings
of ‘great’ authors, such as misogyny & drunkenness,
pound was a fascist-sympathizer,
wodehouse was a fool,
kipling was an imperialist,
kerouac was a tool,
sandburg was a communist,
kundera was a stool . . .
THAT is enough of THAT . . .8^D . . .